Young tennis star Coco Gauff follows in the footsteps of Osaka, Serena Williams by launching NFT

Tennis star Coco Gauff, 18, has announced the launch of a new series of Coco Gauff NFTs that went on sale on June 7. Her NFT is part of Autograph’s latest release, which also features younger athletes like WNBA star Sabrina Ionescu, PGA Tour golfer Collin Morikawa, NFL quarterback Justin Herbert, and NBA star Devin Booker, according to Forbes.

NFT platform Autograph was co-founded by Tom Brady to bring well-known names in sports, entertainment and culture into digital form. Since then, Autograph has welcomed names like Simone Biles, Tiger Woods, Derek Jeter, Wayne Gretzky, and Usain Bolt.

“I love connecting with my fans, especially my younger fan base,” Gauff said of her Autograph NFT. “I wanted my collection to be as colorful, fun, and truthful to my passions as possible.”

According to Forbes, holders of any Gauff’s NFTs from “The Future is…” NFT collection purchased by June 14 will receive access to a social media Q&A with Gauff herself. They will also be able to vote on her outfit for a tournament this summer.

Gauff currently sits at No. 13 in the world, according to the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings. Also, she became the youngest ranked professional tennis player in the world at the age of just 15.

In 2021, she broke a 15-year-record to be the youngest woman to reach the grand slam quarterfinal at the 2021 French Open. Prior to that, she was also the current record holder for the youngest American woman to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal since Venus Williams did it at the age of 17 at the 1997 U.S. Open.

Gauff won her maiden WTA Tour singles championship at the 2019 Linz Open at the age of 15, becoming the Tour’s youngest singles champion since 2004. Gauff rose to attention after defeating Venus Williams in the first round of the 2019 Wimbledon Championships.

Gauff was born on March 13, 2004, and had, therefore, not even been brought to the world when Williams, who would be her idol, reached her four of nine Wimbledon finals. But the African-American tennis prodigy rose in her field, winning several junior titles before making it to Wimbledon.